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Christianity
Depending on who you speak to, 'Christianity '''is either a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God that millions of people enter into, or just another world religion. It teaches that there is one God in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), that Jesus is God's Son, and that Jesus' sacrificial death on the Cross and His resurrection in three days is the only way by which people can be reconciled to God despite their inherent sins and spend eternity with Him. Doctrines of Christianity *The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God (2nd Timothy 3:16-17) *Jesus is fully God made manifest in the flesh (John 8:58; 1st Timothy 3:16) *The Virgin Birth *Jesus lived a totally sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) *Jesus died on a cross and resurrected in three days as a means of saving humanity from the spiritual consequences of its sins, which is spiritual separation from God. (John 3:16, John 14:6, 1 Corinthians 15:3, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23). *Jesus will return *Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). Similarities with Raven Raven, full name being the Church of Raven, is considered an off-shoot of Christianity. The following is a list of points of agreement between the two faiths: *They are both Trinitarian theists *They both believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that Jesus is the only way to God. *They believe God is all-knowing, omnipotent, and omnipresent. *They believe in the Holy Spirit *They both believe humans are sinners separated from God (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23). *They believe that one must be "born again" to see Heaven/Valhalla (John 3:3), though Raven calls it a "spiritual inversion", or an act of "spiritual anarchy" *They believe that Jesus lived a sinless life and died via Crucifixion, only to rise again three days later, henceforth defeating the powers of spiritual death and separatioin from God. *They both believe the Bible is the Divinely inspired Word of God. Differences with Raven It can be argued that Raven is an extreme cousin of Christianity. The following is a list of differences between Christianity and the new world religion Raven. *Jehovah/God the Father/Yahweh is given the title "Caesar", or "the Great Caesar" *Different take on the Great Commission-Christians see the Great Commisssion as a command to take the Gospel across the globe; Raven sees the Great Commission as a mandate by Jesus Christ to wage war against sinful society in any way possible. *Divine claims of Jesus-Christianity sees Jesus' claims about Himself as evidence of His divinity, but Raven sees them as more-they are actually secret veiled threats uttered against the society of sinners (Particular examples are John 14:6, seen by Raven as Jesus declaring Himself higher than government with the power to destroy it, and Matthew 28, the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew that contains the Great Commission). *Different names for Heaven and Hell-Christianity simply calls Heaven "Heaven", or the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven/Paradise in Raven is a fusion of Christianity and ancient Norse mythology, referred to as "Valhalla ". Like the concept of Heaven present in Norse mythology , Valhalla contains massive gates guarded by angels disguised as eagles and a massive dining hall, Valhalla is also seen as a Kingdom, much like the Biblical concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, where the Great Caesar Yahweh dwells along with His Son/Military Commander Jesus Christ. Hell, in Raven, is called Tartarus (named after the Greek mythological version of Hell). *Different take on Hell-To Raven, Hell (named Tartarus in Raven ideology) is not a literal lake of fire (the "lake of fire" depiction of Hell is believed by Raven to be symbolic), but an endless cycle of reincarnation and annihilationism; the souls of condemned people are trapped in an cycle of being destroyed and reincarnated for all eternity. *View on Sin-Raven sees sin as a cancer that has infected all people as a society so much that it is beyond repair (though people can still be saved) and therefore must be destroyed. They also see human governments as the ultimate example of human sin. *Different view of the Cross-The Cross is seen by Raven as God the Great Caesar's "war declaration" against human sin, which Raven believes to have spread so much that God has had enough and has decided to go on the offensive (through the Great Commission). *Concept of Guardian Angels-Followers of Raven also believe in Valkyries, guardian angels that supposedly accompany Raven's soldiers in warfare. They watch over the souls of soldiers in battle and personally bring the souls of those slain in battle to be judged by the Great Caesar. *Concept of a Last Judgment-Like Christians, Raven has a concept of a "Final Judgment". However, it is different from Christianity in that it is not only whether has received Jesus Christ as Savior during his or her Earthly existence, but also judged on the basis of one's actions in battle. If one dies an honorable death in battle, the eternal rewards that he or she receives in Heaven increase massively. If one lives a Christ-centered life on Earth, but behaves cowardly in battle, that person will lose certain rewards. *Different view of the Fate of the Unlearned -In regards to the fate of those who die without even getting a chance to hear the Gospel, Raven followers believe that the Great Caesar Yahweh, based on the teachings of Yahweh's love and mercy in the Bible, will hold humans who haven't had a chance to hear the Gospel to a different standard. Like Christians, Raven believes the unlearned will be judged on the basis of God's general revelation in nature (Romans 1:18-20) and conscience (Romans 2:14-15). If they responded positively to Yahweh's general revelation, he will treat them as if they accepted Jesus as Savior in their Earthly lives, despite having no knowledge of Him during their earthly lives. If not, they go to Hell. Unlike most Christians, who believe that a majority of humans have rejected God's general revelation and lived immoral lives, Raven believes that there is a small minority of people in the world that have at least accepted God's general revelation and, based on their understanding and interpretation of God's love, mercy and compassion, He could give them a chance at salvation (a variation of the so-called heretical Second Chance Theology). When challenged by Christians and ''their interpretation of Romans 1:18-25, which says that the provisions in the chapter are only sufficient to condemn and not save the unlearned, Raven argues that Romans 1:18-25 is worded too vaguely and rendered too ambiguous to objectively determine that all have rejected God's general revelation and henceforth accuse Christians of "calling God impotent and putting Him in a box." Notable Christian characters *Derek Westbrook (2015-Present) *Alvin Torres (2015-Present) *Jordan Williams (2015-Present) *Tabitha Galbraith (2015-Present) *Lydia Ross (2015-Present) *Gerald Moore (2018-Present) *Anna Foley Category:World religions